The programme will depict work on Pavlopetri, off southern Laconia. The city is thought to have been inhabited from around 3500BC to 1100BC, with a population of between 500 and 2000 people.
The work is headed by underwater archaeologist Dr Jon Henderson, from The University of Nottingham. The documentary will feature diving footage and computer graphics showing how the city would have appeared in its pomp.
Before Henderson's project, Pavlopetri remained untouched after its discovery in the 1960s by oceanographer Dr Nic Flemming, who carried out a diving survey of the site. Flemming has returned to join the surveyors.
In collaboration with the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, the diving team has raised some 90 artefacts and used latest survey technologies to examine the city’s structures.
Dr Henderson said: “We have been very keen to use the latest survey technologies on this site to create an accurate three-dimensional record of the architectural remains on the seabed.
“Having the BBC on board has allowed us to create amazing photo-realistic, computer-generated reconstructions of the site based on the actual survey data we have collected in the field.”
Divers will continue to survey in 2011 to establish more on the dating and function of city buildings.
The BBC documentary will be aired in 2012.
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